Page 23 - Advanced Life of Christ - Student Textbook

Herod and the date of Jesus’s Birth and Death

The majority of New Testament scholars place Jesus’ birth in 4 BC or before. This is because Josephus
declared that Herod died in 4 BC and Herod played a major roll in the narrative of Jesus’ birth. Jesus
would have to have been born BEFORE Herod died. The evidence for believing Herod died in 4 BC
mainly comes from the writings of Josephus (AD 37–103), a first century Jewish historian. Josephus
stated that there was a lunar eclipse just before Herod died. Tradition has this event assigned to the
eclipse of March 13, 4 BC. Further evidence for the 4 BC date of Herod’s death comes from coins of the
period, which show that his successors began their reign in 4–3 BC.

However, there is a problem with this date. If Jesus was born in 4 BC or earlier, and he began his
ministry when he was 30 years old (Luke 3:1,23), he would have begun his ministry in 27 AD (from 1 BC
to 1 AD is one year). Most scholars place his death in April, 33 AD. That means that Jesus was 36 or 37
years old when he died and had a 6-year ministry on earth. But that does not fit with what most
scholars hold as a 3 to 4-year ministry as described in the Gospels.

Possible solution: Josephus, who wrote almost 100 years after the event, mentions only one lunar
eclipse and dates Herod’s death based on that eclipse. Furthermore, the eclipse of 4 BC happened in the
middle of the night and would not have been observed by many. As well, it was only a partial eclipse. In
contrast, the only other eclipse during this time frame was on December 29, 1 BC and was clearly visible
at sunset. It is very possible that Herod died in 1 BC rather than in 4 BC, which solves our problem.

For an extensive study on these dating methods, see J.P. Pratt, The Planetarium, 1190, p. 8 – 14. See the
reprint here: https://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/herod/herod.html.

If Herod died in 1 BC, then Jesus could have been born shortly before his death in 1 BC. That would put
Christ’s birth around the Passover feast day or around April, 1 BC and would fit more in line with the
chronology of the Gospels.

Nazareth
Nazareth was a small city located 12 miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee. It was located on a high bluff
about 1,138 feet above sea level and has a perfect view of the fertile Jezreel Valley below. At the time
of Christ there was one ancient spring for water. It was a conservative town, clinging to the traditional
Jewish culture in a world that had radically endorsed Greek thought and culture. The population at the
time of Christ probably was less than 1000. They spoke Aramaic (derivative of Hebrew) and most boys
were taught to read and study the Torah in the synagogue.

Jesus’ home was the little village of Nazareth, off the main road, over the hill but still within walking
distance of the city of Sepphoris (3.7 miles) or Zippori. The peasant families who lived there eked out a
living, paid their taxes, and tried to live in peace. They were observant Jews, so they circumcised their
sons, celebrated Passover, did not work on the Sabbath, travelled as pilgrims to Jerusalem, and valued
the traditions of Moses and the prophets. Herod stationed a garrison of Roman troops in Sepphoris.
After Herod’s death, his son, Herod Antipas was made tetrarch and he proclaimed Sepphoris as the
“Ornament of the Galilee”. It was constructed as a show-case city in the northern Galilee region. It
perhaps was the site where Jesus and Joseph worked as carpenters and stone cutters during the time
Jesus grew up.

Locate Nazareth on the map to the right (hint: look up by the Sea of Galilee, to the left or red arrow.

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